Hampton's latest Wilson isn't your average teen

HAMPTON — — It wouldn't take long to conclude that when it comes to the American teenager, especially one who plays football, Hampton's Daunte Wilson is bucking the trend.

On this Friday afternoon, Wilson strolls the hallways between classes in a gray blazer with a blue V-neck sweater and a white button-down dress shirt. Few seem to notice it as unusual.

"I like to clean up once a week," Wilson explains.

He's a high school senior who has no use for Twitter or Facebook. No need to update the world on every detail of his day.

Video games are all right. But for Wilson, a fun day is hanging out at his grandmother's house in Virginia Beach, where he can do just about everything from archery to riding horses to swimming.

"When we were younger, most of our time in the summers were spent over there," Wilson said. "You drive down this rocky road, there's a mailbox, and you keep driving and there's a horse field here, a horse field there, a barn and her house. And just woods surrounding the whole area.

"We go fishing in a big pond. We go four-wheeling. We're outside the whole day. You cook on a grill and eat outside."

The only time anyone goes indoors is when, you know, nature calls.

The Wilson family likes to be active, and sports — particularly football — is a big part of it. Wilson's father, James, played it at Hampton High, the University of Tennessee and briefly in the NLF. His older brother, Tyrel, is a former Crabber who now plays at Virginia Tech. His younger brother, 7-year-old Jaylen, is following right along.

And there's his mother, Shari, probably the biggest sports nut in the family.

Daunte is the third member of his immediate family to play for Mike Smith. He's the seventh of his extended family. Among his cousins are former Crabbers Myron Newsome, David Watford and Marques Hagans and current Hampton quarterback Deon Newsome.

"It's all in the family network," Smith said. "A lot of football players come through that family."

It's a source of pride for Daunte Wilson.

"We're all die-hard Crabbers to the fullest," he said. "When I was growing up, I always saw Coach Smith and Coach (Danny) Mitchell. They've been a part of my life since I was little.

"When I was on the JV team in the eighth grade, I was the water boy (for varsity) so I could just be on the field. Just to be in that atmosphere."

Now that he's there, Wilson is a key player on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he starts at center, where he begins every play. On defense, he's been moved from defensive end to middle linebacker, where he calls the formations.

In last week's 41-0 win over Warwick, Wilson (6-foot-1, 200 pounds) had six tackles, one sack and an interception. He has three picks for the season, two of which came in a win over Norcom.

"We moved him to middle linebacker out of necessity and he's filled right in," Smith said. "He gets better every game. He's a very intelligent kid and gets everybody in the right spot most of the time."

Chalk that up to being around the game all his life.

"I've always studied the game, so it comes naturally to me," he said. "When I see an offense, I know what defense we should be in. It's more common sense to me. I guess because my whole family is football."

And, in a semi-recent development, rugby.

Two years ago, looking for something to do during the offseason, Wilson went over to Kecoughtan with a friend who played on the rugby team there. Thinking it looked kind of fun, Wilson joined. General interest quickly turned into passion.

A year later, Wilson and his mother helped start a team at Hampton (it's not recognized by the VHSL or affiliated with the school). Shari became the head coach.

In its first season, the Hampton Heat surprised the sport's establishment by making it to the Virginia State High School Rugby Championship game, where it lost to the Fox Hunt Warriors of Fairfax 8-5. Wilson was his team's MVP.

In July, the Heat won the Subway Commonwealth Rugby Sevens State Championship. (Seven to a side instead of 15). Wilson and teammate Nick Sandoval were the co-MVPs.

"We're getting rings next month or so," Wilson said. "For a first-year team, I think we did pretty good."

It's now hard for Wilson to say which sport he likes more: football or rugby. Or which he'd rather play in college, given the opportunity.

Actually, Wilson's answer to the latter depends on the school itself and whether it has what he wants to study. Wilson plans to major in biology or zoology and minor in criminal law. He hopes one day to be a veterinarian and/or work with animal rescue.

Oh, yeah … the Wilsons love animals. They have two dogs, a pit bull and a rottweiler, who according to Wilson are both "big babies." They'll be adding a Siberian husky after Christmas. They also have a lizard and, Wilson says, "a whole big tank full of stuff."

As the third Wilson to come through the Crabbers' football program, Daunte is hoping to do what his father and older brother did before him — win a state championship. James was part of Hampton's 1986 and '88 title teams; Tyrel was on the 2005 Group AAA Division 5 winner.

The Crabbers had a hiccup in the third week with a loss to Bethel but have won four in a row since by an average margin of 41 points.

"My four years of playing varsity, I don't think I've ever been this excited," he said. "I'm excited to see what we can do. Our team is so together this year."